Am I Here?
by Artimus-Maora
Summary: They all saw Shadow die- or did they? He faded into the light, but that's not the last they've seen of him. Shadow is trapped in the in-between, and needs the help of the others before fate catches up to him! Primarily VioxShadow centric, with some minor BluexRed mixed in there as well.
1. Chapter 1- Portent of Things to Come

AU Where Shadow's death is not a final death- he's something between dead and alive, and trapped in the darkness. He needs Vio's help to get out, before a fate worse than death catches up to him...

Primarily going to be Vio x Shadow-centric; if you don't like it, don't read it! (Might eventually contain hints of Blue and Red, if you look closely ;D )

* * *

><p>Vio stared blankly at the ceiling of his room in the morning, sighing softly. He'd had one of the dreams again... One about Shadow. Once they had been very rare occurrences- perhaps once a month, their shadow would appear in his dreams. Now it was several times a week, almost nightly.<p>

He was always the same in the dreams- he was always trapped. Something was always wrong, without exception, and Vio could never get to him. Shadow was always in pain, reaching out for help and then suddenly disappearing, like a candle extinguished. Vio always woke up in a cold sweat, shivering. It had to mean something... But what, he couldn't say.

He stood up, making his bed distractedly, and found himself staring at the shadow he cast on the floor. Once or twice since they had defeated Vaati he swore his shadow had waved at him, but it hadn't done anything for the longest time. Perhaps it had all been a figment of his imagination- that was the most logical answer. Even in their world where magic was not uncommon, the 'dead' coming back to life was unheard of.

Though it struck him that Shadow might not be dead; he might be out there somewhere, existing in some way... They had not seen him die, per se. True, he had disappeared in the light, but stranger things had happened. It was sadly unlikely, though... It was a shame; Vio missed him. Towards the end, when they were actually allies fighting on the same side, Vio liked him. But then he destroyed the mirror, and in theory so with it went his life...

Not his memory, though- that, at least, was sufficient enough to inspire the nightly dreams. But why now? Vio rubbed his forehead, realizing he'd been staring at the floor for almost ten minutes. "Stupid..." He muttered, sighing and making his bed before starting to get dressed. He glanced briefly in the mirror over his dresser, his heart almost stopping as he caught a glimpse of _something_ in the corner of his room- when he whirled around to get a direct look, however, he saw nothing. Another check of the mirror revealed the same conclusion.

"I'm going crazy," He deduced with another, slightly more annoyed sigh, heading out of his room without a backward glance. If he had looked back, he would have seen that his shadow was still frozen in place on the floor in the same spot he'd been fixated upon.

.-.-.

.-.-.

"Did you guys ever wonder what might have happened to Shadow?" Vio asked during a lull in the conversation after breakfast. Green shrugged, raising an eyebrow.

"Not really, no. I mean, he sort of died in your arms. Doesn't leave a whole lot up for debate, huh?"

"He did not die in my arms, I was kneeling beside him and he disappeared into the light," Vio argued, folding his arms over his chest. "That does not automatically mean he died."

"Well, technically speaking, if a shadow fades into light it's as good as gone," Blue pointed out, taking a drink of milk.

"Why do you bring him up now, Vio?" Red asked, trailing his fork through a puddle of syrup on his plate. "That was almost a year ago..."

Vio shrugged, not willing to let on about his dreams. "Curiosity. I wish to know if that was really the last we'll ever see of him..."

"Well, death is final," Blue said plainly. "I don't think it's really possible for people to come back once they cross over."

"Yeah, maybe not..." Red agreed. "Do you miss him, Vio?"

Vio gave a small, noncommittal jerk of his head. "I suppose. We didn't exactly spend quality time together or anything, but..." He considered bringing up his paranoia, but dismissed it. If there was ever anything unnatural, paranormal, or just downright strange going on, it was usually Blue who was the first to become aware of it. If his sixth sense hadn't picked up anything, then there was probably nothing the matter.

"You gonna go back _there_, Vio?" Red piped up, distracting Vio from his musing.

"Where?"

"You know, back to the last place you saw him. Or wherever you put that marker for him- was it at-"

"I might, yes," Vio cut him off shortly. "I'll be leaving now. Thank you for making breakfast, Blue, I'm glad you didn't burn anything." He got up and put his dishes in the sink, ignoring the glare he got from the other Link. He left the house, taking with him his bow and his sword out of both habit and precaution.

Perhaps it was a bad idea to return- Vio had, after the hype about the whole ordeal had died down, returned to the site where the Sky Tall Tower had been. (The majority of it had been destroyed between Vaati's fits of rage and Ganon's power, but parts of it were still standing.) He had found an area in the woods nearby, and had set up a small headstone in memorial to Shadow. It was not much, and there had been no body to lay to rest, but he felt better at least doing _something_.

It took him a while to get there, and an equal (if not greater) amount of time to locate the area, for things had grown in his absence. Eventually he found the site, though, and stood blankly before the cold gray stone. "... Hi, Shadow."

He shifted his weight from foot to foot, unsure of his exact reason for being here in the first place. "I'm not sure what drove me to come back here today," he admitted, tapping his foot on the ground. "I suppose I just sort of wanted to... check up on things." He was fidgeting quite a bit today, and he made himself keep still.

"You've been on my mind a lot lately; rather without my permission, to be honest. I can hardly control my dreams, after all." He snorted, sitting down cross-legged before the headstone. "That alone wouldn't be that unusual, but... Ah, how do I put this without sounding like a fool?" He folded his hands, thinking for a minute. "Did you actually die?"

"Because some nights I swear I hear you..." He paused for a long moment, and then felt the need to elaborate. "You never really say anything, but you breathe. I know it's you- or at least, I think it is..." The night after he had fought and 'killed' Green, when Shadow and he had victoriously drunk together and he had made up his mind to break the Dark Mirror, Shadow had fallen asleep in front of him early on.

He had watched him for the longest time, certain it would be the last time he saw him. He'd taken the time to really look at him, trying to burn the small details into his mind. Little things: the inward-turned position in which he slept, suggesting he always felt the need to be on the defensive; the way his brow never totally unfurrowed, as though Shadow was constantly on-edge and perhaps just the slightest bit worried; how he fell asleep so easily, seeming completely exhausted and rather unlikely to simply awake for anything less than a bomb going off; and of course the way he breathed. Shallow, quick breaths, like someone who's either nervously excited, furiously angry, or afraid for their life.

It was hard to describe exactly, but on the longer breaths he also sort of... growled. It was not the correct word for it, because for all his extensive vocabulary Vio couldn't place the most accurate term, but there was some low noise that Shadow occasionally would make when he felt some emotion strongly. It sounded as though it came from either the back of his throat or his chest, a very low noise that was almost impossible to hear unless you sought to notice it. Vio had never heard it before, and never again- not until recently, that is.

"I can't imagine who else it would be- I stopped sharing a room with Green ages ago, so I know it's not him. And I've held my breath, and I still hear you. Am I mad?" Thank the Goddesses he received no answer. "I assumed as much. I sort of..." He paused, reconfiguring his words. "I just wanted to see if things had changed at all. I don't know what I expected, to be honest." He gave a short laugh. "One can't easily come back once you've crossed over."

He got up, walking to the stone and resting his hand on it. "Well... If you are still around, you should drop by and say hi sometime." He gave a slight smirk. "Save me the trouble of figuring out the answer to the question on my own. If you're not... Miss you." He patted the rock, turning his back on it and starting on his way home.

* * *

><p>Wow I'm back to uploading things on my fanfic account? o.O Yikes. But yeah- I've had this one sitting around in my documents for a while- I periodically go back and forth to write more on it, and have gotten enough amassed by now that I'm confident in posting it :3 I hope you guys all like it!<p>

Stay tuned for more! ;D

-Artimus-Maora


	2. Chapter 2- Invalid Return

AU Where Shadow's death is not a final death- he's something between dead and alive, and trapped in the darkness. He needs Vio's help to get out, before a fate worse than death catches up to him...

Primarily going to be Vio x Shadow-centric; if you don't like it, don't read it! (Might eventually contain hints of Blue and Red, if you look closely ;D )

* * *

><p>Late that night, when he was fairly certain that everyone else in the house was fast asleep, Vio was still awake. He was sitting up with a book in hand, reading but not really comprehending. Saying he was distracted would be an understatement- completely unfocused was closer to correct. Every so often he would notice this, frown, and make a renewed effort to continue reading. Each time he would slowly lose focus again.<p>

"... Dammit." He sighed heavily, getting up to put the book on the dresser and perhaps pick another. He glanced up to mirror again as he was switching out the novels, and froze. There was a deformed figure in the corner of his room, standing just as still as he was and staring at him from blank eye sockets. The _thing_ had no mouth, just hollows for eyes and- oh. A jagged line across its spindly upper torso opened, parting to show rows and rows of serrated teeth. Vio dared not turn around, afraid to either prompt it to attacking or lose sight of it.

He stayed completely still, fighting even the urge to blink. He couldn't resist the urge to blink forever, though, and when he did, the abomination vanished. He shakily let out his breath, unnerved. "What...?" For the second time in as many minutes he cut off in mid-sentence, falling silent as he heard unmistakably audible breathing.

This time he dared to turn around, locking gazes with a pair of scarlet irises belonging to a young man on the opposite side of his room. Shadow was slumped against the wall, visibly shaking and obviously just as surprised to see Vio as Vio was to see him. "... Vio?"

"Shadow?" Vio put down the book he'd been so intent upon reading, not trusting himself to believe his eyes. He would blink, and Shadow would be gone- just like that... thing. He had to tell himself it wasn't real, just to fight down the unexpected flare of hope and excitement at seeing him again. But he blinked- more than once, even- and Shadow remained there, just as dumbfounded.

"Vio..." Shadow's expression switched rapidly, originally doubtful and more than a little afraid to wonder, then almost instantly to a wide grin. "Vio! You can see me, right?!" Vio nodded dumbly, not trusting himself to words for fear of tripping over his own tongue in confusion. Shadow's whole face seemed to light up at this, and he immediately struggled to get to his feet and started stumbling towards him. "I can't believe it, _finally_...!"

Vio found himself wearing a smile almost as large as Shadow's, much to his surprise, and he started towards him as well. There was so much he needed to ask- where had he been? Why hadn't he showed up sooner? How had he gotten here? He had to tell him even more, like how he'd been in his dreams lately, and how thankful they all had been for his sacrifice, and how much Vio had missed him...

Vio reached Shadow, wanting to embrace him, grab his hand, his shoulders, do _something_- but drew up completely short when his arms passed right through him. Shadow seemed just as shocked, staring at Vio with wide eyes. "What just..." Once again his expression transformed, immediately morphing to anger, frustration, and more than a little desperation. "What?! No, no, this can't be right.. I don't.. it..." He tried frantically to grab Vio's wrist, hissing when his hand passed through without a hitch. "No!" He backed up, all the happiness from before now replaced with despair.

Vio finally found his voice, stumbling verbally for once. "Shadow, what- I don't... What's going on?" The flame of hope dwindled sharply, leaving a cold, hollow feeling where it had burned briefly.

Shadow bit his lip, staring at his hands and apparently not hearing Vio. "I've gotten to this point.. Why didn't it work?! I did everything right, I can't still be trapped like this!" He sunk down to his knees, clutching his hair tightly and shaking. "I can't be! It's not fair, I just want to get out!" He yelled.

"Shadow, what's going on?!" Vio demanded, kneeling before him and trying to grab his shoulder to get his attention- that didn't work, and Vio shivered at the feeling it produced. It was like the feeling of slowly thawing after being in the cold for too long- numb, icy... Cold like death.

Shadow looked up at Vio, seeming to recall Vio could see him. There were frustrated tears gathering in the corners of his eyes as he tried to calm himself enough to speak. "I... I..." He took a shuddering breath, then slammed his palm onto the floor beside them. "DAMN IT!"

Vio jumped from the unexpected action, reflexively reaching out to try to calm him again before remembering it did no good. "Shadow, calm down, just tell me what's going on, will you?!"

"I'm not dead," Shadow muttered, picking his hands up and resting them in his lap as he attempted to stay calm. "I'm sort of... Stuck."

"Stuck." Vio repeated. "How?"

"I'm in that grey area between dead and alive- you know how everyone is sure you can't come back once you pass on? That's true. But I didn't make it to that place where you have the option to keep going- I was trapped." Shadow grunted, hands forming fists. "For a whole damn year, I tried to find some way to either go back or go on- it was hell."

"Literally?" Vio asked before he could consider the wisdom of asking a question like that.

"No, not literally," Shadow rolled his eyes. "Close, though. I'm no expert on it, but it's..." He shuddered. "I don't want to talk about it. Point is I was stuck there for a long damn time, and only now was I able to get you to notice me."

"Get me to notice you...? How long have you been trying to do that?" Vio raised both eyebrows.

"Since the day I died." Shadow didn't miss a beat. "It doesn't take long to figure out you're stuck in limbo."

"Ah... I've seen you before today- when I dream, mostly," Vio hastily clarified, as Shadow's face lit up and then fell. "It's been really frequent this past month or so... Maybe that meant something?"

"Who knows," Shadow grunted. "It didn't work- I'm still not back." He reached out to prod Vio's shoulder for emphasis; it tingled. "I'm as bad as a fucking ghost."

"If you consider yourself a ghost, haunt me all you wish. I've missed you." Vio said plainly. Shadow glanced up at that, giving a little smile.

"I caught onto that- I tagged along today when you went back to that grave you made for me. I'm flattered, by the way. I never expected anyone to even remember I existed."

"We all remember," Vio shook his head. "Don't worry about that- I wouldn't let them forget you so easily."

"Heartwarming," Shadow snorted, a glimmer of his humor returning. "Unfortunately, though, we're still stuck here with the problem of me not really existing."

"I'm talking to you; you exist."

"You know what I mean, Vio." Shadow 'poked' him in the forehead.

"Fair enough." Vio frowned. "Well, perhaps I'll be able to look something up and shed some light on the situation... Proverbially, anyway."

"Maybe now that you noticed me, yeah," Shadow nodded. "You wouldn't believe how painful that is- being right in front of someone, being _this close_-" He held his hand in front of Vio's face, about an inch away, "- to them, talking and screaming at them, and them not noticing a thing. No matter how loud you shout or what you do, you're completely invisible." He glanced down again, pulling his knees up and resting his forehead on them. "You're powerless to even get their attention, so you're forced to just sit there and hold back the tears, keep in the pain, and above all keep trying to be noticed."

Vio's frown deepened sadly. He could imagine the situation- Shadow right in front of him, panicking and trying frantically to get his attention, getting completely ignored in favor of a book or someone else or even sleep. "But you're here now..." He pointed out softly, coming as close as he could to laying a hand on Shadow's shoulder. "That's something. Progress."

"But how much more am I gonna have to do?!" Shadow glanced up, distraught. "You have no idea what it's like, Vio! I'm not the only being like this! There are other things stuck there with me, and I'm nothing compared to them! There are monsters, demons, I don't even know what half of the things in that place _are_!" Could that have been what Vio had seen earlier? "I can't stay there much longer, I'm going to... Something bad is gonna happen!" The tears of frustration from earlier were on the verge of returning, now partly born of fright.

Shadow was not a man who feared much; this Vio knew for a fact. If that place could drive him to this state... He reached out to him and made as if to take his head in his hands. "Look at me, Shadow." Shadow obeyed, shivering. "You made it through a whole year of that all by yourself- the worst is past you. Now you've got me on your side- if I remember correctly, you always wanted a trustworthy ally, didn't you?" He ran his thumb over the partly-transparent surface of Shadow's cheek, tracing a tear that fell despite Shadow's strictest efforts to keep them back.

Shadow gave a small nod, rubbing his eyes with his sleeve. "Yeah... T'be honest, I'm surprised you remember me saying that..."

"Well, I wasn't the one who was drunk at the time, so..." Vio teased lightly, giving him a small smile as he snorted.

"Okay yeah, I might've had a bit too much to drink that night," Shadow admitted, pointed incisors showing as he grinned a little as well. "Stupid."

"Just a tad." Vio agreed with a chuckle. "Now cheer up- I deal with both Blue and Red's emotional outbursts every day, I don't need yours as well."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever you say, Vi," Shadow snorted, mood beginning to lighten. "Goddesses, not gonna lie- I'm honestly just happy you can see and hear me..."

"I am too." Vio smiled, placing his hand over Shadow's on the floor; he ignored the odd feeling it produced. "I promise we're gonna find some way to get you back to normal."

"You'd better," Shadow snorted. "Bad idea to get a guy's hopes up and do nothing about it, y'know."

"I keep my promises, don't worry," Vio smirked. "If you've got me on your side, you're gonna be okay."

"Man, I hope you're right about that..." Shadow gave him a grin in return that still held a bit of trepidation.

"I'm always right." Vio allowed himself a moment of bragging as Shadow snickered.

"Just as humble as ever- now I remember why I liked ya," Shadow rolled his eyes. "Am I keeping you up?"

"I would rather talk with you than sleep," Vio denied. "Sleep I can do every night."

"And ideally, I can show up every night too," Shadow assured him. "Or whenever, really. I don't think there's like a time limit or anything."

"Do you think the others will be able to see you too?" Vio asked.

Shadow shook his head. "I doubt it, at first."

"Then why me?"

"Because I wanted to see you the most." Shadow answered. Vio smiled a little.

"Well, I feel flattered now." He stifled a yawn, but Shadow noticed.

"I seriously think you should sleep now," He advised. "I'll still be around in the morning. Promise."

"If you insist..." Vio warily agreed. "What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to watch you sleep," Shadow snickered. "As creepy as that sounds."

"It sounds extremely creepy," Vio acknowledged, getting into bed. "Whatever happened to sleeping when you're dead, hm?"

Shadow scoffed. "Please. You think a body needs rest from sleep if it's not growing and functioning?"

"Fair enough," Vio conceded, about to shut off the light; he halted and frowned as a vivid memory of the creature from earlier flashed behind his eyes. "Shadow... If you can see me like this... Can those other things?"

Shadow shook his head. "Nothing big that I know of. If anything tries to get you while you're asleep, you can be damn sure I won't let it, either."

"Good to know you've got my back." Vio's tone was joking, but his meaning was genuine. "On that note, I think I'll go to sleep. I will see you in the morning, Shadow."

"You betcha. G'night, Vio." Shadow leaned against the wall, passive now.

"Goodnight." Vio rolled over and dozed off quickly.

* * *

><p>Gettin' Shadow back into play, aw yes. If it seems a bit weirdly executed, I'm sorry x.x it's unbeta'd. More explaining to come, as to things like 'where was he?' and 'how did he get back?' Vio wants answers too. Hehe. also this small chunk is rather old writing. I might come back and edit it to give it a little more life later. Thank you for reading! R&R always welcome and appreciated!

~Artimus-Maora


	3. Chapter 3- I Expect Answers

AU Where Shadow's death is not a final death- he's something between dead and alive, and trapped in the darkness. He needs Vio's help to get out, before a fate worse than death catches up to him...

Primarily going to be Vio x Shadow-centric; if you don't like it, don't read it! (Might eventually contain hints of Blue and Red, if you look closely ;D )

* * *

><p>Once Shadow was certain Vio was definitely asleep, he risked it to move closer and stand near his bedside. It was a sight he'd grown well accustomed to- Vio, sleeping. Not to sound completely creepy, but whenever he wasn't trying to find a way back to this world, he'd spend his time watching Vio.<p>

He hadn't really grown close to any of the other heroes except him, and even now that he'd had the chance to study the others as well, he definitely liked Vio the best. Green was far too noble for him, Red was too much of a crybaby or too bubbly, and Blue would be fun to get into a fight with, but that was about it. Vio was the interesting one, to him.

He was the intelligent member of the team, and the only one to actually do more than blindly run at Shadow and attack him. Granted, it had been to pull a 180 and betray him later on, but still. He knew Vio held a different perspective of him than the others did, probably because of the time they'd spent together in the tower.

Thus, when he'd been trying to find a way back to the others, Vio was the one he focused on. Many a night he'd spent staring at him in anguish, trying to figure out a way into his world, into his head, somehow to get back and tell him that he was still alive. Ish. Eventually he figured his presence must have been having some effect, because Vio started to mumble things in his sleep.

Often it wasn't coherent in the slightest, more like whines, moans or gasps, but sometimes he would say words. Most often, short phrases would slip out like, "Come back," or "Don't go." Whenever Vio's expression was pained and worried, though, was when Shadow heard his name.

It appeared Vio was starting to dream already, as a matter of fact. His eyes squeezed shut a little more tightly, and he rolled onto his side, frowning in his sleep. "Nnnn..." His knees curled slightly more up to his chest as his hands gripped the blanket. Shadow knelt by the side of his bed, watching his expressions with fascination.

Vio's eyes were moving underneath his eyelids, darting back and forth. His lips were parted slightly, and his breathing was quicker than it normally was. Shadow wondered idly what Vio's dreams consisted of- obviously him, in some manner, but what else? Judging by the past, it was likely not a good dream...

He folded his arms on the side of the bed, resting his chin atop them. He was glad Vio was asleep and no one else could see him; it would probably have looked a little strange to be this close under normal circumstances. But he just liked to look at him and watch him do things... Even things as boring as sleeping.

Perhaps it was a little bit weird... He watched as Vio shivered; unnerved, no doubt, because of something from the dream. "Don't do... Stay 'way.." He gritted his teeth, jaw set as he faced something inside his mind.

Shadow reached up, imagining he was playing with Vio's hair and helping to keep him calm as the nightmare progressed. He couldn't really touch him, but he would have if he'd been able to. "Just a dream, Vi... Stick it out..."

He looked to be fighting quite a nasty nightmare, if his tense expression was anything to judge by. He stiffened, and then shuddered violently as he hid his face in his pillow. "Sh'dow..." Shadow was never sure what it meant, the fact that he only heard his name when Vio's nightmares appeared to be at their worst. Either he was the problem or the solution, and he hoped it was the latter. Vio called his name again, more clearly than before. "Shadow..!"

Shadow frowned, hand hovering over Vio's face. "Shh... Nothing's wrong, you're just dreaming. Nothing's gonna hurt you, I promise..." He leaned up so he could more directly whisper to him, hoping he'd be able to hear. "You're fine; I'm fine. We're both okay, Vio."

Vio's expression didn't relax, and to his surprise and slight dismay, Shadow noticed that there were unshed tears coating Vio's pale eyelashes. He frowned, trying to wipe them away, but only succeeding in making Vio shiver violently. Damn...

"Whatever's making you cry, I'm gonna find a way to stop it," Shadow promised quietly. "Somehow or other I'll figure out what's the matter and I'll make it better." The promise did little to help Vio now, but it made Shadow feel better as he sat by Vio throughout the rest of his nightmare.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

The next morning Vio woke up early, rubbing his eyes. He didn't remember dreaming last night, which was a blessing. Perhaps seeing Shadow had- Shadow?! He sat up quickly, searching the room for his friend. "Shadow?"

"Right over here, Vi." Shadow's voice came from the corner of his room, hidden in a dark area that the shafts of light from his window wouldn't pierce. "Sorry, got a bit too sunny for me over there."

"You can't stand light still?" Vio frowned, getting up and walking to him.

"Nah- this time it's not cuz of Vaati's powers not being able to take it. Just the plain old fact that I'm not human right now," He folded his arms with a sigh, staring up at Vio from his place seated on the floor. "Sleep okay?"

"Surprisingly, yes," Vio nodded, taking a seat opposite him on the ground. He noticed how Shadow seemed a little surprised at his answer, but decided not to mention it.

"That's good- got any plans for the day?"

"Yes. Talking to you and figuring out this whole mess." Vio informed him. "There's a lot I need to know before I can figure out how to start helping you."

"I'm gonna level with you right now, Vio," Shadow sighed, rubbing his forehead. "There's not a ton I know about this, either. Everything's been sort of guess-and-check, since there's not exactly many people I can talk to in that place."

"Let's just start with 'that place," Vio suggested, making himself comfortable. "Is there a name for it? Do you have something you refer to it by?"

Shadow shrugged. "As far as I know, there's not a name for it. I've kind of been referring to it as hell or the Rift."

"Why Rift?" Vio prodded, curious. "Bit of an odd name for a place."

"Cuz that's just the best way I can think of to describe it." Shadow tapped his fingers on his knee, looking a little nervous at the thought of it. "It's like what I said earlier- it's a place where creatures like me get stuck. It's an in-between, a purgatory, but a little more... Hellish." He cringed.

"Ah..." Vio nodded shortly. "How did you get stuck there?"

"I honestly don't know," Shadow confessed. "Opinion? I tried to go somewhere I wasn't supposed to, and I got shut down for it."

"Go somewhere you weren't suppo... As in, you wanted to go to the Sacred Realm, but were denied access?"

"I think so, yeah." Shadow nodded. "I don't think the Goddesses wanted someone like me in there."

"_I'd_ want you there," Vio frowned. "You gave your life fighting the darkness- I can't imagine why the Goddesses wouldn't want you."

"Oh, I dunno, maybe because I destroyed homes, burned down forests, tried to kill you, and succeeded in killing a ton of other people!" Shadow snapped bitterly. "One good thing probably didn't make enough of a difference in their eyes."

"Without you, we would have died fighting Vaati," Vio contradicted. "It made all the difference for us, and the Goddesses typically look favorably on heroes and their allies."

"Not in this case, apparently," Shadow sighed. "Like I said, I think I got blocked from the Sacred Realm and wound up in the Rift."

"Hn..." Vio rubbed his chin, thinking. "What's inside the Rift? Can you describe it?"

Shadow glanced down, but nodded. "It's dark- I'm not talking about dark like nighttime, when there's still the moon and stars and some other light from homes and stuff, I mean dark like... No light source. It's a living thing, almost, because it gets to the point where you _feel_ it. It has a texture. It doesn't mean you can't see, though- somehow you can still see _just_ enough to get around. There's some sort of barely-there, dim ambient light."

He went on, "The atmosphere of the place is cold; very cold. The air is unnaturally still, though- if you make _any_ noise, it echoes. Everything is silent, though... Everything but me, it seems." He gave a slightly shaky laugh. "You said you heard me breathing even before I showed up? Well, imagine being completely alone in someplace that seems to amplify sound. Imagine it hunting you just by your breath..."

"Hunts? What hunts you?" Vio's frown was pronounced now.

Shadow gave a small laugh, shrugging. "I don't know. Pitch dark, remember? I've never seen it clearly- it's just something I can feel right behind me... I've literally felt its hands on my arms before, but it never does anything. It just lurks, waiting..."

"Maybe it's not hostile?" Vio suggested halfheartedly..

"No, it's out for blood," Shadow immediately refuted. "It wants to kill me, I know it. It's not the only thing, either- there's more than one monster trapped in there like me, but I figure I'm probably one of the smallest things there and the only thing without claws. Well, sort of." He held up his hands, where his nails tapered to jagged points. "But you get the idea- I'm the prey there."

"Huh... I see your point," Vio nodded slowly. "The other day, right before you appeared, I saw something... It was tall, and looked vaguely like a human, but.. It had sort of blank sockets for eyes, and its mouth was covered by skin. Its skin was bright white on its face only, and essentially its entire torso comprised of a sideways mouth. Does that sound like something that could come from the Rift?"

As Vio had been speaking, Shadow's expression had settled into a concerned scowl. "Shit..." He swore lowly. "That's definitely from there, yeah. I have no idea how something that big got out, too..."

"That's something else I've been meaning to ask," Vio perked up. "How did _you_ get to this point? I remember you saying something like, 'you'd already done so much' to get here, and that you'd 'done everything right' and it still didn't work. What did you do to get here?"

Shadow fiddled with the hem of his tunic, shrugging again. "It's kind of hard to explain."

"I'm capable of understanding pretty complex things, as you know," Vio reminded him.

"True," Shadow acknowledged. "Well, I'll tell you what I can. I wandered in there for a really long time- probably the first four months- pretty much scared outta my mind." He adjusted his position a bit, stretching.

"I had no idea where I _really_ was, but I knew it wasn't the right place. Occasionally I would catch glimpse of light; if we go with the saying that our universe is made of fabric, then they must have been tiny tears. So I figured wherever the hell I was, there were ways out."

"But those tears were maybe the size of my palm, at their largest, and they never stayed open very long. I tried at some point sticking a rock of some sort through the tear, thinking maybe it would stay open since there was something inside it. Nah, it melted the rock clean in half."

"So you physically trying to widen and escape through one of the rips wasn't exactly a viable option," Vio summed up. "I see. Then what did you do?"

"This is where things get fun." Shadow sighed. "I said earlier that I didn't know of anything _big_ that could dimension hop like I was trying to do. I've seen some small things do it, though. Kind of like rats, they were almost able to chew the holes wider and slip through."

"So what, you chewed on a portal?"

"Very funny, Vio; no." Shadow rolled his eyes, rubbing his shoulder absently. "Vaati created me purely out of magic; an incredible thing, on a side note. It takes a lot of skill to be able to just whip up a humanoid creature with correct motor skills, brain capacity, all that shit. And then to alter it to be able to wield a certain degree of magic, and do things like actually use shadows... Even though his power was destroyed when I shattered the Dark Mirror, magic is in my blood. I can't use nearly as much as I could before, but I still have some. And I can find other magic users."

"Let me guess- there was some sort of sorcerer in there with you, huh?" Vio guessed.

"Something like that, yeah," Shadow nodded. "It took me ages to track him down, cuz I'm not as familiar with non-human signatures, but I eventually found someone who seemed to know enough about magic that he could be able to help me."

* * *

><p>A bit of explaining and shit going on- setting things up to kick plot into action :P It's a tad boring right now, but once I get the explaining and figuring outta the way, they can get to the doing! And that's where things will be fun! x9<p>

R&R always appreciated thanks for reading!

-Artimus-Maora


	4. Chapter 4- Hear Me Out

AU Where Shadow's death is not a final death- he's something between dead and alive, and trapped in the darkness. He needs Vio's help to get out, before a fate worse than death catches up to him...

Primarily going to be Vio x Shadow-centric; if you don't like it, don't read it! (Might eventually contain hints of Blue and Red, if you look closely ;D )

* * *

><p><em>"Something like that, yeah," Shadow nodded. "It took me ages to track him down, cuz I'm not as familiar with non-human signatures, but I eventually found someone who seemed to know enough about magic that he could be able to help me."<em>

_-.-._

"How'd you get him to agree to help you?" Vio raised an eyebrow.

Shadow cast his gaze away. "It wasn't easy. Obviously everyone wants to get the hell outta there, and no one there is exactly the generous, benevolent type. Everyone who could get out already had- but this guy knew how to. He hadn't gotten out because he's literally stuck there."

"He's fused to the inside of this gigantic-ass pit, which was a pain in the butt to find. He's got some reach, because he can sort of grow and stretch limbs as he pleases, but he's anchored there and can't get out."

"At one point he was some guy who tried to harness magic beyond his control, and he got in way over his head. Either the Goddesses or some other hero knocked his ego down a few notches when he was defeated and all his power taken from him, and now he just babbles to himself down in that pit."

"It seems like he's totally batty, but he actually is sane enough when you try to get him to talk... And when you can actually _talk_, as opposed to him screaming at you and trying to fight you off with a thousand slimy tentacles." He cringed. "Took me probably a week to get him to speak."

"How do you measure time in a place like that?" Vio inquired.

"Temperature changes. It gets bearably chilly during the 'daytime,' and at 'night' it's fucking freezing. Not quite enough to kill you, cuz you're already sort of dead, but very uncomfortable if you sit still." Shadow shrugged. "Going back to the other point, though."

"I found that crazy old guy- he sure as hell wasn't Hylian, or a Gerudo, or Zora or anything we've got here. He looked kinda... all stretched out and deformed. His eyes were sort of blank orange, and he had a couple weird markings on his face." Shadow lifted his hands, drawing a tiny line with his fingertip going from the underside of his eye to the middle of his cheek on each side of his face.

"Either way, he eventually seemed to realize I was coming there for a purpose, and calmed down enough so I could get to him and explain what I wanted. He laughed at me the first time and threw me up and out of the pit, but I kept coming back every day for another week until he started to take me seriously."

"He was loathe to actually do anything that would help out somebody else." Shadow rolled his eyes. "But I told him the deal. I still had magic I could use, and he had the know-how to use my magic so I could get out. He had a bunch of terms I had to agree to, though."

"One, I myself could not perform the spell the first time; he had to do it to make sure it worked. That would entail me setting things up and then transferring whatever amount of magic into him for him to start the spell. And I'd have to trust him to actually use it for _my_ good, and not something else."

"Two, I had to gather all sorts of things for the spell to actually work. Unbeknownst to me, this place was more than just a flat expanse of death. There were things like valleys and canyons, and weird plants and rocks were everywhere. The more I looked, the more I found. Eventually I even stumbled across some sort of weird plants with leaves that glowed, but I figured it was more of a hazard than a help. You could spot someone carrying a light a mile away, and it really only painted a huge target on my back."

"Three, I had to make it worth his while. There isn't really a lot of stuff in that place of common enough value to use to barter with, so eventually it was decided I would stick with him for a couple months and do whatever he needed me to, since he couldn't do a lot while fused to the wall."

Shadow made a face there. "A 'couple' months ended up being closer to six, because I was gone a lot searching for the things he would need to make the spell work correctly. Stupid things like different crystals which were supposed to be common but ended up being a pain in the ass to find; some creature's blood, which I had to figure out how to attack and trap before I could even _consider _killing it; all that hocus pocus."

"What did he have you do when you weren't running around for him?" Vio questioned.

"Basically get whatever it was he needed," Shadow shrugged blandly. "Since we're all 'dead' in a way, none of us really need nourishment like we do when alive, but we need other stuff. I had to fetch these other weird plants and liquids that he used to make a potion supposedly to give him strength. I also had to do stupid things like pull rat bones out of his limbs, cuz they got stuck in the weird shadowy bits and died, I guess." Shadow made a face. "That was gross. I just kinda had to tend to his needs and shit until I was able to gather everything we needed for the spell to work; in theory."

"In theory?" Vio frowned. "Complications?"

"Yeah," Shadow nodded. "I figured it was gonna be a risk letting this guy use my magic to cast the spell, and it was. As soon as the ritual started getting anywhere, he turned on me."

"By that point in time a tear had shown up, large enough to get through and temporarily held open. However, he stopped trying to focus on the portal and instead started trying to use my magic to swap places with me. He tried to fuse _me_ to the wall so he could get out of the portal and wreak havoc."

He snorted. "Like I'd ever have trusted that idiot; first rule of the shadows is that whatever you do, don't trust people you just met. I never gave him enough magic for the spell in the first place, and halfway through dragging me towards him, he started to falter."

"That gave me just enough time to fight my way free and jump through the tear in the Rift to get to you," Shadow finished with a sigh. "Although in retrospect, not giving him enough magic in the first place is probably what caused me to be like... This." He held up a hand, and then passed it through Vio's shoulder. The sensation was like a cloud of mist is passing through him.

"Well, do you know the spell that got you here?" Vio asked, chewing his bottom lip in thought. "It's possible we may be able to either recreate it, or at least extrapolate the amount of effectiveness it had so we know where to start in finishing the work."

Shadow shrugged hopelessly. "I knew generally what he was saying in Hylian, but he switched to another, more 'magic-infused' language as he started the spell." Shadow sketched air quotation marks with his fingers. "Might've been full of bull, but whatever he did, I don't know the language."

"Magic infused..." Vio muttered quietly, thinking hard. "Do you remember even one of the words?"

"Ah, shit..." Shadow tapped his fingers on his knee uncertainly. "I think... I think 'light' might have been 'zorisik' or something... Does that mean anything to you?"

Vio snapped his fingers as his mind clicked. "Ah! I recognize that!" He swiftly got to his feet, heading back over to a small stack of books on his nightstand. Shadow rose as well, floating over and giving the sunlight a wide berth as he hovered over Vio's bed.

Vio sifted through a couple of the books, finally triumphantly pulling out a copy of a history book detailing the Great War. He sat down on the side of his bed, flipping through the pages quickly until he found what he was looking for. "Here!"

"The Sheikah?" Shadow questioned, looking at the book over Vio's shoulder.

"Yes," Vio nodded. "This might sound a little far-fetched, but I have a theory that I believe makes sense to explain this."

"You're usually right," Shadow acknowledged, alighting next to him on the side of the bed. "Do tell."

"Okay. Well, as you know, long ago there was a war that consumed Hyrule. This war was primarily fought over possession of the Sacred Realm, and inside it the Triforce. Everyone- good and bad- wanted it for themselves."

"A group of beings with magical abilities sought to use their magic to get into the Sacred Realm- _I_ think it was the Sheikah, or they at least made up a considerable portion of the group. The Royal Family found out that their guardian tribe was acting alone, and retaliated with force; I believe this is what prompted the massacre of their people, which they regard as a betrayal by the Royal Family."

"I find the fact that the Sheikah refer to the event as a 'betrayal' an interesting note, however. Perhaps the Sheikah never intended to use the Triforce for themselves; only to seize it for the Royal Family? Who knows."

"Anyway. Women and children were killed in the massacre; the vast majority of the _men_ were the ones that had attempted to seize the Sacred Realm. The ones who attempted were sealed, along with other various offenders, into what we now refer to as the Twilight Realm."

"The Sheikah people are now few and far between in Hyrule, but their influence is more widespread than we think. Magic, as you know, can be used with both verbal spells and nonverbal actions. On average, verbal spells are capable of much more potent and precise effects."

"Spoken in Hylian, magical incantations alone do nothing. Spoken in Hylian by someone with a very strong bloodline of magic, like the Princess, spells will still work easily. However, for almost any other magic user, it takes a considerably greater effort to weave spells in Hylian; it's easier to do so in a language that's closer to Ancient Hylian."

"The Sheikah dialect of the Hylian language is much, much more closely tied to magic than ours is. Most spells were originally created with that language in mind, and so work easily." He paused. "I swear I have a point, Shadow, don't fall asleep on me here."

"No way, Vio, I'm listening," Shadow shook his head, snapping himself out of a bit of a stupor. "Could you get there a little quicker, though?"

"Hn. The Sheikah that were banished to the Twilight Realm were not heard of until approximately 250 years ago, when one of my ancestor heroes encountered a race of people known as the Twili. They were the descendants of that tribe, long ago, that had tried to snatch the Triforce."

"They were definitely beings capable of magic, and although the description you gave me does not _exactly_ match the description for what an average Twili was supposed to look like, I'm going to hazard a guess that it was their traitorous leader that you encountered; Zant."

Vio went on, "And from that word you remembered- which I know for a fact is in Sheikah; their title for the Princess is Zorisik-Kesoso, or Light Princess- I can reasonably connect the dots to say that if you know what the spell said in Hylian, or close to it, we can backtrack it into Sheikah and figure things out from there."

Shadow stared blankly at Vio for a moment. "I swear to the Goddesses, Vio, if I could I would kiss you right now." He finally said, grinning widely. "I can't believe you figured that out! Oh my Goddesses, we might actually stand a chance..!" He seemed so excited at the prospect of having a tangible method of getting back to the real world, he was almost bouncing.

Vio smiled too, catching onto Shadow's excitement; he disregarded the uncharacteristic comment. "There's always a way," He nodded sagely. "You just have to be clever enough to find it."

"And boy, did I pick the right guy to come to." Shadow was grinning ear to ear. "When can we start figuring it out? Do you know Sheikah?"

"I don't know it fluently, no," Vio admitted. "It's extremely uncommon, seeing as there are so few of them left. But," He quickly added as Shadow's face fell, "I know for certain the Royal Family would be able to help." Shadow brightened again.

"Okay, so when are you gonna go talk up the Princess to help you revive your dead best friend in the world?"

"You said so yourself; you're not dead." Vio reminded him. "And I'll talk to her as soon as we're able." He frowned suddenly as a thought struck him. "Will she be able to see you?"

"I dunno," Shadow shrugged. "Probably not."

"Zelda is very in tune with sensing-..." He almost said 'dark magic,' but caught himself before he spoke. ".. Supernatural things. She may sense you without knowing exactly what's going on. What should I say to her, in such an event?"

Shadow shrugged his shoulders again. "I don't know; probably just tell her the truth. She trusts you. I personally don't think she's gonna be able to tell I'm here, but whatever your gut tells you, man."

"We'll see." Vio shrugged. "Either way, we've talked so long I'm hungry now. Do you need to eat?"

"Nonliving body- don't need nutrients anymore." He reminded. "Shame, really; only a year and I already miss eating."

"Well, you won't have to miss it for much longer," Vio assured him confidently. "I'm going downstairs now, then." He stood up as Shadow got to his feet as well. "Try not to pass through any of the others; I feel they'd notice _that_."

"I'll do my best," Shadow snickered, following Vio out of his bedroom.

"Question," Vio piped up as they were halfway down the stairs. "You said you watched us all a lot; how'd you do that?"

"Not very difficult," Shadow answered. "That's a simple spell. Find any flat pool of liquid and use the spell to see whatever you want to. There's pretty much no real water in the Rift, but there's something like ink that you can find in puddles and rivers all over the place."

"Huh..." Vio commented. "I almost want to see that place sometime."

"I hope you never do." Shadow snapped immediately. "I hope you never screw up badly enough that you get stuck there. It's not some exotic land that yearns to be explored- it's a branch of hell, Vio." He scowled. "Don't you dare wish to be there."

"Sorry," Vio muttered, a little taken aback by the ferocity of Shadow's response to his offhand comment. "I didn't really mean it, I was just sort of.. Talking idly."

"Yeah, the last time you were 'talking idly,' you were actually making plans and scheming..." Shadow muttered. "Trust me, that's a worse idea than plotting to break the Dark Mirror- this one will hurt _you_."

Vio frowned slightly. "This is different than then, and you know it. I was just curious; I did not think about what I was saying."

"Unusual lapse for you, then, isn't it?" Shadow sighed. "Forget it- just don't ever go there if you're given the choice. I don't want you to get lost there too..."

"Yeah... Well, at least I wouldn't be there alone," He made a halfhearted joke. "I'd have a friend with me."

Shadow gave a dry snort as well. "Anyplace else and I'd be glad; anywhere but there." He fell quiet as they neared the kitchen of the house. "I might keep it down until we're sure of the situation here..." He muttered, falling behind Vio as they entered the kitchen.

* * *

><p>And there goes some of my theorizing. Yikes. cries because I have a whole language written up for this made up Sheikah dialect of Hylian language that came from a story years ago. Story was shit- the language was pretty cool.

But yeah. Yay, I get the chance to throw in a few of the other Links finally! I like writing as Blue; which should be obvious xD

R&R always appreciated! Thank you for taking the time to read my nonsense!

~Artimus-Maora


	5. Chapter 5- Collective Interaction

AU Where Shadow's death is not a final death- he's something between dead and alive, and trapped in the darkness. He needs Vio's help to get out, before a fate worse than death catches up to him...

Primarily going to be Vio x Shadow-centric; if you don't like it, don't read it! (Might eventually contain hints of Blue and Red, if you look closely ;D )

* * *

><p>All three of the other Links were already awake and making breakfast; Red was about to start making pancakes while Blue was busy scrambling eggs, and Green was almost done setting the table.<p>

"Morning, Vio!" Red called cheerfully upon catching sight of him; he did not remark further, leading to the assumption that he couldn't see Shadow.

"Good morning, Red," Vio nodded, heading to the icebox to fetch the large bottle of milk and pour himself a glass.

"Slept in, huh?" Blue commented, taking the pan of eggs off the heat and turning around to bring them to the table; he nearly hit Red, who was going for the spatula to flip his pancakes. "Oi, watch it! You're gonna get burned!"

"I'm sorry!" Red cried, hastily backing up. "Go on, I'll just hang back a sec." He patiently waited for Blue to continue on, grabbing the spatula and flipping the pancakes once he'd passed.

Shadow, bored, chose this moment to stand directly in Blue's way. Blue visibly shuddered, coming to a complete halt. "Holy shit..." He muttered, shivering. "What the hell is..?" He narrowed his eyes, staring directly at the spot Shadow was currently standing in.

"What's the matter, Blue?" Red questioned, raising an eyebrow as he maneuvered around Blue while carrying a plate of pancakes.

"... It's nothing." Blue grunted, continuing on stiffly. Shadow shot Vio a gleeful smirk, sticking his hand through Blue's shoulder as Blue was sitting down to eat. "Shit!" Blue cursed, swiping at the empty air and scowling angrily.

"Blue, stop being a spazz and just eat," Green rolled his eyes, taking some of the eggs.

"Yes, Blue, control yourself at the table." Vio chastised him, taking a seat too. Shadow laughed, only audible to Vio, as he sat down on the couch behind their kitchen and watched the small group.

Red dished up pancakes to everyone present, sitting down and saying, "So, what's everyone doing today?"

Green shrugged, digging in. "I dunno- I was planning on just sticking around here most of the day, to be honest."

"Well, someone needs to go grocery shopping," Red informed. "We're almost out of bread, somehow, and I could make some more but it takes a long time and it'd be simpler to just buy it if someone was going into town..."

"I had plans to swing down there today, anyway," Blue grunted. "Maybe I'll pick some up on my way home."

"Okay, good! Blue can go get groceries, I've been meaning to clean the house for a while now, and what're you doing today, Vio?" Red turned to the purple Link.

Vio shrugged. "I was thinking about going to see the Princess. It's been a while since I've talked with her, and there's a matter that I need to discuss."

"Well, that's not gonna happen," Green shook his head. "She's out of town for a couple days, remember? She went to that kingdom to the north for a while for some diplomatic errand." Shadow let out an annoyed groan from the other room.

Vio sighed too. "Shoot. Well, perhaps I'll simply go see if I can set up a meeting with her for when she returns."

"Couldn't hurt to ask," Red nodded. "She loves all of us, though, she'd make time to talk even if you didn't let her know beforehand!"

"Yeah, you're right," Vio agreed. Blue polished off his breakfast, getting up and carrying his dishes to the sink. "You sure ate fast."

"Shut up, Vio. Red, make a list of stuff we're gonna need," Blue said, washing his dishes. "I'm probably not gonna get to it until later in the day, after I've gotten all my errands done, but that'll be fine..."

"Okay!" Red jumped up, abandoning his final pancake as he ran around to take inventory. "Just gimme a minute!"

"I'm not leaving right _now_, Red, cool it," Blue rolled his eyes, leaning against the doorframe. "It can wait until you freaking finish eating."

"I'm done, though!" Red insisted, lone pancake forgotten. "It'll only take a minute, I promise!"

"No need to rush, geez," Blue rolled his eyes as he made to leave the room. Shadow didn't miss the chance to leap up, sticking his hand in front of Blue's face as the grumpy Link left. "What the hell?!" Blue shouted as he felt the sharp tingling sensation, stumbling back. "All right, who's doing that?!"

Shadow laughed, quickly getting out of the way. Green rolled his eyes. "Blue, you're weird."

"I am not, I swear something strange is going on," Blue insisted, trying to spot the reason for his discomfort. "I just don't..." He trailed off into an aggravated sigh.

Vio got up to clear his things too, patting Blue on the shoulder as he passed him by. "Don't worry, we aren't judging you in the slightest."

"Shut your damn mouth, Vio," Blue snarled, trying to hit him as he went by. Vio smoothly avoided the uncoordinated swing, snickering as he walked back to his room.

"Shadow, don't do that to him," He chastised as soon as he re-entered his bedroom. "He will pick up on you."

"Aw, if I'm gonna be stuck like this, I at least wanna have some fun with it!" Shadow pouted, but he was clearly hiding an unrepentant grin.

"I could have sworn we agreed that you wouldn't antagonize the others?" Vio raised an eyebrow.

"I promised I wouldn't walk right through them; I never said I wouldn't stick my hand through their bodies," Shadow corrected cheekily.

"Shadow..." Vio frowned.

"Fine, fine, fine," Shadow sighed, rolling his eyes. "Now I can't have any fun."

"You can have fun without pestering the others," Vio pointed out.

"Oh yeah, lemme just read a book to entertain myself." Shadow walked to Vio's nightstand, making to pick up a book. His hand passed through it. "Oh wait, that's right- I can't."

Vio rolled his eyes. "If you want to read _that_ badly I could leave the book open."

"Ah, good. A spectacular two pages read."

"Well, what do you want me to do, read to you? You're a big boy, Shadow, I don't think it's necessary."

"I can't freaking touch the book at all!" Shadow exclaimed, exasperated. "That's the whole root of the issue here, remember? I-" he passed his hand through the book, "-cannot-" he kicked the table, with a similar effect, "-touch-" he punched the wall, going right through it, "-anything!" He stomped over to Vio, and would have grabbed his shoulders and shaken him if he could.

"All right, all right!" Vio held up both hands, scowling slightly. "Calm down, okay?"

"Yeah, 'calm down, Shadow, you're overreacting," Shadow mocked, glaring at the floor. "Let's switch positions for a little while and see how you like this, hm? And I'll conveniently forget your inability to do normal stuff at stupid times."

"I'm sorry, okay?" Vio snapped. "Why in the world are you getting so worked up over this?"

"Because! That's uncommonly stupid of you to just 'forget' when you know full well I can't touch you or anyone else- what makes you think I could do something like pick up a book and start reading?" Shadow glowered.

"I understand you being a bit miffed, but no need to blow up like that," Vio frowned. "Are you _that_ stressed?"

"No, I'm as lighthearted and carefree as a fucking bird." Shadow said sarcastically. "Yes, Vio, I am stressed. And worried. And angry and tense and I dunno, I might even be scared!" He scowled, finishing in a voice that was slightly less than stable.

Vio was silent, watching Shadow as the unstable Link glared at him. "... I'm sorry..." He muttered after a few moments. "I shouldn't have made that remark. It was careless of me."

"Eh," Shadow grunted. "Whatever. I don't blame ya, I guess; I'm just a little tense." Shadow skulked over to the window, glaring moodily outside; now that the sun had moved a little, no bright light was streaming directly inside that could hurt him.

"That's entirely understandable," Vio gave a short nod. "I don't blame you."

"Mmh." Shadow grunted. "So, no princess today... Were you actually gonna go see if you could arrange a meetup, or not?"

"Nah," Vio shook his head. "No point; as Red said, she would make time to talk to any of us. It _would_ be nice to give her a heads up, though..."

"Then let's head over there," Shadow turned away from the windowsill, facing Vio. "Never know, she might be back early, too."

"I doubt it, but it's possible," Vio shrugged. "I'll just gather my things, then, and I suppose we'll be off." Vio went to his wardrobe, picking out his bow and quiver only; he did not expect to encounter any enemies today, so only light armament would be needed. It was purely precaution.

He strapped the quiver over his chest and onto his back, storing his bow in a similar fashion. He grabbed a few utility pouches for things like Rupees and such, attaching them to his belt. Checking to make sure his hat was on straight, he turned back to face Shadow. "All right, let's head out."

* * *

><p>See now this is my favorite thing to do- write all four of the Links interacting with one another at once. They function the best as a whole group, and I feel I can write each the most accurately when I play them off one another. C: Plus they're hella fun and hella cute. And hella deep if you look at them all individually and think about each of them on their own and each of their relationships with the other individual Links and... yeah. I have devoted entirely too much time to thinking about these babies. :U Not sorry.<p>

Anyway- I hope those of you who are keeping up with this are enjoying it so far, and it continues to be enjoyable to you as it progresses! R&R is always appreciated- thank you so much to those of you who have given me reviews on it! It spurs me on to keep writing, knowing that people out there enjoy it and want to see it continue u

~Artimus-Maora


	6. Chapter 6- Dire Complications

AU Where Shadow's death is not a final death- he's something between dead and alive, and trapped in the darkness. He needs Vio's help to get out, before a fate worse than death catches up to him...

Primarily going to be Vio x Shadow-centric; if you don't like it, don't read it! (Might eventually contain hints of Blue and Red, if you look closely ;D )

* * *

><p><em>Vio strapped the quiver over his chest and onto his back, storing his bow in a similar fashion. He grabbed a few utility pouches for things like Rupees and such, attaching them to his belt. Checking to make sure his hat was on straight, he turned back to face Shadow. "All right, let's head out."<em>

"Sounds like fun." Shadow sidled up next to him, suddenly frowning as he glanced outside again. "It's so bright outside..."

"Ah.. Right..." Vio's expression mirrored Shadow's. "Damn. Well... Can't you hide in my shadow? At least when it's too sunny?"

Shadow's shoulders rose and fell. "That might work; for short periods of time, anyway."

"If it doesn't, we'll turn back." Vio decided. "Let's go; if we're quick, maybe we can beat Blue on his way out of the house."

"Yeah." Shadow followed Vio as the purple Link exited his bedroom, heading downstairs and indeed leaving before Blue could get away from Red's fussing about groceries. "Kind of stick to the shady paths, though, okay?" Shadow asked, melting into the ground behind Vio and joining his shadow.

"I'll try," Vio nodded. He headed out from their house, going east in the direction of the Castle Town. The walk wouldn't be an eventful one, by any means, but that was fine. About ten minutes in, Vio noticed that Shadow seemed rather quiet. "Are you faring all right, Shadow?" He asked, heading off the path to a shady patch of ground underneath a tree.

Shadow took a minute to rise up, his movements seeming labored as he appeared to physically haul himself to the surface. "Not good..." He muttered; his body was partly transparent, and his face seemed paler than normal.

Vio frowned in concern. "You don't look very good- this was a bad idea. We should turn back."

"Yeah," Shadow agreed, panting. "Just... Gimme a second, will ya?" He took a shaky breath.

"Take all the time you need." Vio frowned, kneeling on the ground beside him. "We shouldn't have gone outside like this until we knew better what we were up against."

"Nah.. We had to figure things out at some point," Shadow shook his head, curling up in the fetal position for stability. "Ooh, man, my head's spinning..."

"Just hold still and try to focus on something that isn't moving; it'll clear up soon, don't worry," Vio assured him, making to rub his shoulder out of reflex. As he should have expected, it felt like he was sticking his hand into a cold mist. Oddly enough he felt no numbing sensation- did the sun make Shadow that weak?

"Yeah, yeah..." Shadow muttered, shakily sitting in a normal position. "I think I can go now... Just don't dick around on the way home, that won't end well for me..."

"I won't," Vio promised. "Get back into my shadow before you get worse." Shadow obeyed gratefully, all but falling into the patch of shade on the ground. Vio headed back onto the path, setting out at a brisk pace for home.

He made it back in about half the time, whereupon Shadow stumbled straight through the walls of the house to get back to Vio's room. Vio immediately made to follow him, but was waylaid as he encountered Red. "Oh! Back already, Vio?"

"Yeah; I changed my mind," Vio muttered, slipping past Red and hastening toward his room. "Shadow, are you okay?"

Shadow had collapsed onto the floor, stretched out on his back as he panted. "That much light... Was a bad idea..." He gasped, taking a few deep, labored breaths. "Dammit..."

"How can I help?" Vio's frown deepened as he noticed that Shadow was almost completely transparent.

"Just... Let me rest..."

"You're turning transparent..."

"What?!" This brought a frightened bout of energy from the weary Link, and he shot bolt upright to stare in horror at himself. "No!"

"Do you know what's happening?" Vio asked, concerned.

"No... But at this rate, I'm gonna fade away..." Shadow's voice was hard to hear, too, as though he was speaking underwater. "Shit, if I can't come back..!"

Vio tried to grab him, panicking as his hands passed through him as through fog. "Shadow..!" Before his eyes Shadow's silhouette was fading, and though his mouth was moving Vio heard no words. After a last, desperate grab and what looked like a panicked wail on Shadow's part, the ebony Link vanished.

Vio stared, stunned, at the spot where Shadow vanished. "Shadow?!" How could he just disappear like that?! Had he gone back to the Rift? Was he okay? "Shadow!" Vio stood up and raced to the windows, yanking the curtains shut and whirling around hopefully. Even in the darkness of the room, there was no Shadow.

"... Shadow..." Vio let out his breath in a slow, disappointed sigh. He was gone again. An empty hopelessness filled him at the thought that that might be the last he would ever see of him; he might just be doomed to the Rift forever.

Vio slowly returned to the spot of Shadow's disappearance, resting a hand on the floor. It felt cold, awfully cold. Strange... Shadow had never left a freezing aura behind him like this before... Why did that happen? His train of thought came to an abrupt end as he heard a soft clacking on his floor behind him, and breathing much deeper than Shadow.

He slowly turned, freezing as he found himself face to face with what could only be another creature from the Rift. It was built like a large, quadrupedal canine, with prominent bones that stuck out under black, leathery skin. Scraggly, ratty fur covered it in patches, a large swathe growing around its neck. The beast's face was completely white like the other creature had been, its skin covering empty eye sockets as well.

This thing had a mouth, though, and it was brimming with sharp, conical teeth. It growled menacingly at Vio, who was pretty much petrified with fear. What was that? It took several slow, intimidating steps forward, and purely on instinct Vio shrank back until the monster was towering over him.

He held stock still as the creature lowered its head, snuffling and sniffing around him. It gave a low growl, baring its fangs, and Vio shut his eyes as he prepared for the worst. The creature unexpectedly bounded over him, turning transparent and passing through the door. Vio scrambled to his feet, yanking the door open and peering down the hall just in time to see the beast fade away as well.

"... What is going _on_ here?" He muttered in bewilderment. No harm seemed to be done, despite the creature's frightening appearance, so he returned to his room and the site of Shadow's disappearance. It was still icy cold. "Where did you go?"

Well, there was only one thing to be done- he would have to start with what little he knew and work from there. Vio picked up the book he had on the Great War- the only novel he had at the moment that dealt with the Sheikah- and started to read.

-.-.-.-.

It was the night of the second day Shadow had been missing, and Vio had accomplished frustratingly little. The Sheikah, it seemed, were a race that did not lend itself to history books very well. Information on them was elusive at best; their language was even more obscure. It _had_ to be, else anyone who wanted it could learn it, and it wouldn't be good if magic became that common.

Vio gave an aggravated sigh, shutting the book and haphazardly perching it on his bedside table before rubbing his eyes tiredly. He had to get Shadow back... But how? Where did he even go, back to the Rift? How the hell would Vio get him back if he didn't even know the spell?

Vio pressed both palms to his forehead, groaning. Something was giving him a huge headache all of a sudden; it couldn't have been worse if Blue had been pounding on his skull with a hammer. He felt nauseous, ill. Getting to his feet with a dizzy groan, Vio stumbled out of his room and headed for the bathroom.

After vomiting the contents of his stomach into the toilet, Vio stood before the mirror, shaking. His hands gripped the bowl of the sink tightly, and he stared at himself in the mirror with frustration. "What's _happening_ to me?" He groaned, covering his eyes with his hands as he pressed down on his temples in an attempt to relieve the monstrous headache.

When he opened his eyes again, he let out a yelp of shock and fright. The face in the mirror wasn't his own- everything down to the flip of the hair mimicked his, but the expression was drastically different. Where Vio looked shocked and appalled, the other face was terrified and manic. It was Shadow's face.

Shadow, knowingly or not, was mimicking Vio's actions exactly, hands pressed flat against the surface of what was the mirror on Vio's end of the dimension. (What it was in Shadow's world, he did not know.) Shadow was in panicked, frenzied terror, but the tears that leaked from his eyes gave no sign they fell. There were cuts and scratches on his face, blood oozing down his cheek and over one eye.

There were bruises showing on his skin wherever it was visible, and there were definitely more hidden underneath his clothes. Along his neck was a horrifying set of claw marks, three identical cuts about five inches long. They were just an inch away from being a fatal wound. Vio raised his hand, trying to reach for Shadow- his hand stopped at the glass, while Shadow mimicked his movements exactly.

"Shadow?!" Vio called out worriedly, hand moving to the wound on Shadow's neck- it seemed as though Shadow stopped him with his own hand, keeping Vio away through the glass. Vio countered by shakily raising his fingertips to his own neck, staring aghast as Shadow did the same and coated his fingers in crimson.

"What happened?" Vio whispered, haltingly tracing where the cuts would be and watching Shadow wince in pain. Shadow just stared sadly at him, unable to answer. "Can't you even... Damn..." Vio hung his head, holding his hand over the area of Shadow's wound to try to staunch the bleeding.

Shadow was the one to initiate the next movement, and it was a weird sensation to have his body move without a command from his own mind. Shadow leaned forward, pressing his forehead against the mirror, and by extension against Vio's. He looked as though he was saying something, but Vio was rusty at best when it came to lip reading. Muddled by his soft, almost-withheld sobs, the only word he could really catch was, "-help..."

Vio gave a soft, sad sigh, lifting his head. He motioned towards his room, saying, "I have a bigger mirror in my room. Can we move?" Shadow seemed to catch the gist of his words, giving a shaky nod and stumbling away from the mirror as Vio hurried back to his room. When he got back, he took the mirror off the wall by his dresser and set it on the floor, taking a seat to wait.

It was eerie, seeing a perfectly functional mirror showing everything but his reflection. Eventually Shadow dragged himself into view, collapsing in Vio's field of vision. He turned onto his side, facing Vio wearily. He tried to speak, but coughed, and to Vio's horror a trickle of blood dripped from the corner of his mouth.

Struggling to sit up, Shadow leaned himself against the surface that- in Vio's realm- was the glass of the mirror. He fought to raise his hand, messily pressing two bloody fingers to the mirror and leaving a dark mark. Vio's own hand was forced to mimic his, and he watched as Shadow started to make patterns on the surface.

After a moment he realized it was words being written, and he immediately began to decipher their meaning, backwards though they were written. The writing was hard to read, for Shadow faltered several times, but in the end the rhyme was thus. "Make open the path to re-enter the light; protect from harm and return him to sight. Give form to what was once the black, open the veil and send him back."

With a start Vio realized this must be the spell that Shadow had used to get over the veil in the first place. He jumped up and ran to his desk, scribbling the verse down on a sheet of paper with a blank space. He returned to Shadow, who was breathing shallowly and still bleeding from the neck.

"That's the spell, isn't it?" Vio whispered, to which Shadow only was able to give a feeble nod. "Great! As soon as I can get my hands on those books, we can find a way to translate it and maybe just repeating the spell will be enough to fix this." It was hardly a substantial hope, but it was hope nonetheless. "If not, it's still a huge piece of information we can definitely use..."

Shadow gave a pained, silent laugh, shaking his head. It was obvious he had no clue what Vio was saying; he was hardly in a state to focus enough to lip-read. Vio frowned in frustration, whacking the glass in an attempt to get Shadow's attention. It worked (if only because Shadow's arm was robotically moved up as well) and scarlet irises tiredly focused on him.

Speaking slowly and enunciating so he had the best chance at being understood, Vio said, "We're gonna figure this out as fast as we can. Until I can get you back, stay safe, all right? Don't exert yourself- heal." Shadow laughed again, but it was a little less hopeless.

"Never safe." He mouthed. Words spoken, he curled up against the transparent surface of Vio's mirror. His eyes shut, and when Vio tried to get him to respond again, he received no answer.

"Shadow, wake up! Don't go to sleep when you're injured like that, you might not wake up!" Then again, he supposed, Shadow was already dead in a sense. Still, he feared the consequences. He pounded as hard as he dared on the mirror, getting Shadow to twitch in his sleep. "Shadow!"

He hazily awoke, blinking blearily at Vio. He seemed to gather himself, rising shakily to his feet with enormous effort. Vio stayed rooted in place, watching him stagger a short distance away. Shadow swayed on the spot for a moment, and then held his hands before his body and slowly began to conjure a small orb of light purple magic.

It clearly took everything he had to maintain the spell, and even that was shaky at best. Standing still for a few more moments to gather himself, Shadow waited before throwing the orb right towards the surface of the mirror.

* * *

><p>Aw, Shadder D: what mysteries are beginning to arrive from the Rift... ouo Such plans.<p>

Thanks for reading, and hopefully I can get the next chapters up speedily! R&R is always appreciated C:

~Artimus-Maora


	7. Chapter 7- That Reminds Me

AU Where Shadow's death is not a final death- he's something between dead and alive, and trapped in the darkness. He needs Vio's help to get out, before a fate worse than death catches up to him...

Primarily going to be Vio x Shadow-centric; if you don't like it, don't read it! (Might eventually contain hints of Blue and Red, if you look closely ;D )

* * *

><p>Out of reflex Vio shrank back, and to his surprise the glass seemed to melt where the magic hit it. Shadow pitched forward at the same time, vaulting through the newly-created portal to collapse in a heap on the floor of Vio's room. Vio rushed forward to try to help him, frustrated when the usual happened and he was unable to help. "Shadow!"<p>

Shadow rolled over, panting, and gave a tired grin. "Hey..." Shadow coughed, shaking. He tried to get onto his hands and knees, but collapsed of exhaustion. "Shit... I'm surprised that actually... Worked..."

"What did you do?" Vio frowned, kneeling by his side. He made the usual unsuccessful attempt to help Shadow, but nothing came of it except a cold, clammy feeling on the palms of his hands.

"I saw a tear opening... And just threw some magic at it, hoping it would rip it open enough that I could get through..." Shadow panted, struggling to sit up. "I had no idea... if it would really... work..."

"So it could have killed you."

"Yep."

Vio frowned. "You do realize that if you continue to take risks like that, you'll end up killing yourself. And at that point, nothing I do could help whatsoever."

"Well, the way I look at it, I'm sort of dead already." Shadow snorted, sitting up straight and taking a deep breath to even out his breathing. "I figured it couldn't get much worse."

"Oh, believe me- it can always get worse." Vio muttered darkly, taking a seat on the floor across from him. "I know that for a fact. So please, don't go purposely giving things a chance to get worse."

"No promises."

Vio decided to change the topic, seeing as he was making zero headway. "What _happened_ to you?" He asked, indicating the cuts and bruises scattered across any visible skin. Shadow gave a short laugh, shaking his head.

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Well, I do." Vio didn't take no for an answer- something had beaten him to a bloody pulp, for Din's sake! "What attacked you?"

"A monster."

"Clearly. Do elaborate."

"A monster larger than me."

"_Clearly_."

"I don't exactly want to go into great detail over it."

"You don't have to give me a play by play, Shadow," Vio frowned heavily. "I just want to get the general gist of it!"

"Fine- I got sent back to the Rift, and I was disoriented enough that something got to me. It was something like a mountain lion, or that general shape and size. It got me with its claws, but I avoided the teeth. That would've done me in... Assuming I can die. But it sure took a lot outta me..."

"How did you get away?" Vio prodded, concerned.

"I ran." Shadow said simply."After I melted its feet into the ground."

"Ouch." Vio cringed, getting up and fetching a pillow from his bed to sit on. The wooden floor wasn't the most comfortable surface in the house. Shadow noticed his discomfort, raising an eyebrow.

"Just cuz I'm hanging out down here doesn't mean _you_ have to, too," He commented.

"I know; I want to." Vio shrugged, making himself comfortable again. "I just wish I could be of more help to you."

"You are. You're trying to puzzle out this spell with me, and I'd have zero chance of doing it on my own. Think of yourself as however unhelpful you want- anything is better than nothing." Shadow reasoned. Vio gave a small smile, one Shadow mirrored.

"Hm. Oh, that reminds me- what did you use to see over here? I just looked in my mirror, but somehow I doubt it was the same case for you."

Shadow shrugged. "Remember how I said there were puddles of some weird inky black fluid all over the place? I stumbled across a rock face that had that stuff oozing all down the side."

"Sounds somewhat disgusting." Vio commented dryly, to which Shadow snorted and nodded.

"Ya got that right." He took a deep breath, beginning to check over his own wounds. "Well... At any rate, since I think I'm already dead, these won't be the end of 'll heal up soon enough."

"But there's no way I can be of any assistance with that, right?" Vio frowned.

"Nope. It'll fix itself soon enough." Shadow waved his hand, dismissive of his injuries. "That shouldn't be the primary concern. What _should_ be is getting to see Zelda. I don't think I can risk going into the sun like that again- even when hiding in your shadow, being out in the open is too much. I'm not ready for that yet."

"So that leaves us with two choices." Vio continued the train of thought. "Either we wait until you are, or I go without you."

"Hell, I'll be safe enough here," Shadow rolled his eyes. "You forget that no one else can see me."

"Mm, I'm a bit worried about Blue," Vio disagreed. "He seems to to know something is up, and if any of the others were gonna pick up on you, my Rupees would be on him." Blue had an eye for the supernatural... Or perhaps he was more like a magnet for it. Poes and ghosts always seemed to find him, and the azure Link's sixth sense was the sharpest out of the four of them.

"Well, I'll deal with that when it comes to it," Shadow huffed. "I'm not afraid of him or anything. Besides, I'm insubstantial- there's nothing he could do to me!"

"If you give him a fright or make him angry, he could open the curtains." This was met with silence from Shadow. "Just watch it. He's my opposite in terms of actions- I tend to think things through, where he acts on instinct and listens to his gut more than his brain." Sometimes that was what they needed, but more often than not it got him into trouble.

"I will, I will." Shadow assured him. "You worry too much."

"I would certainly say I am justified."

"Well... yeah." Shadow stood up, strolling over to the curtained window and staring pensively at the fabric. "Do you think... D'you think if we manage to get me back, I'd be alive like... normal? Would I be able to stand sunlight?"

Vio gave a small shrug, frowning at the melancholy note in Shadow's voice. "I have no idea. I would assume so, but I don't really have any logic to back it up. However, having you back in any way, shape, or form is better than you being like this."

"True." Shadow's hand hovered near the edge of the drapes, like he was going to pull the fabric back. Even though it was nighttime and there was no sun to hurt him, he wouldn't have been able to do it anyway. His hand fell to his side as he sighed. "You know something?"

"What?" Vio stood up, tossing the pillow back onto his bed and going to stand near Shadow.

"I had always kinda wondered what the light was like," Shadow admitted, not yet turning to face him. "I know fire and stuff, but the only time I've ever been in the light by my choice was after I shattered the Dark Mirror, and at that point I knew I wasn't long for the world."

"Light is... very much like fire," Vio made an attempt at explaining. "It's not quite as intense, usually, in its brightness or warmth, though. It's more pleasant. It's usually comforting, but that may be because we were all born creatures of light. It brings a safe feeling to us, much like darkness does for you."

"I sorta get it..." Shadow gave a small nod of the head, a tiny frown creasing his forehead. "Truth be told, I never really wanted to go to the light for the light itself; like you said, I feel safer in the dark. But everything in the world of light is better than what I've seen in the Dark World- no question I'd rather be here." He glanced back at Vio over his shoulder, expression changed to a hint of a grin. "B'sides, the company is a ton better."

Vio smiled. "Oh, how you flatter me."

Shadow laughed and gave an impish wink. "Who said I was talking about you? I could've been talking about one of the others, or Zelda, or something."

"Mmhm. And who, out of all the choices, have you appeared to? Solely?" Vio humored him.

"You. I was just joking with ya, Vio," Shadow snickered, raising an arm and making as though he was wrapping it around Vio's shoulders. "You probably figured that." The places his arm was in contact with Vio's shoulder felt like he was enshrouded in chilly mist.

"I did, yes." Vio's grin stayed in place as he curled an arm around Shadow's waist. It reminded him of how they used to be; standing in the tower together, looking through the large stone window out over the plains of Hyrule. Shadow hadn't known then that Vio had plans to betray him, and Vio hadn't known whether or not he'd be able to go through with his intentions.

There was something about the way Shadow had stood with him that night. His arm had been thrown around Vio's shoulders, pulling the purple Link flush against him. His grip on Vio was firm but not painful- it was like Vio was a treasure he was loathe to even let out of his sight, but at the same time he trusted him enough that he didn't feel the need for that kind of intense possessiveness. At that point Vio had felt Shadow's hidden strength- though he was built slim like himself and his copies, it was surprisingly deceptive. He remembered thinking- much like he was now- how easy it would be to casually draw him just a little closer, hold him just a little tighter. Maybe tilt his head to the side just a fraction and have it find a comfortable spot on his shoulder.

Part of it was him trying to gain Shadow's trust- the other part? He had chosen to never look too carefully at it. He was not about to right now, either. He had no way to know what Shadow was thinking, and it was the last thing on his mind right now. He shut his eyes with a quiet sigh, brooding. When he reopened them a few moments later, he didn't expect to find Shadow gazing at him with an enigmatic stare, and the hint of a smile. "You know what this reminds me of?" He asked quietly. They were quite close to one another- he hardly had to whisper for Vio to hear him clearly.

Vio gave a small nod, a faint smile growing on his face too. "Yeah- before..." That was all he could say. Before, when they had first been allies. Before, when Shadow's trust in Vio was absolute. Before Vio attempted the action that would have ended Shadow's life. Before, when it was simple between them.

Shadow gave a small nod, understanding the words Vio hadn't spoken. "Before." He repeated. That was all he said for quite some time, staying in the same spot and staring with unseeing eyes at the drawn curtains. "You know..." He spoke up after a few minutes," ... It could be like that again."

"I'd like that." Vio nodded, his answer soft but sincere. "I'd really like that..." He hid a smile by turning his face towards Shadow's shoulder; oh, how he wished he could touch him, hold him, anything. Even for something as simple as this- standing with their arms around one another- the emptiness of having no real contact was dejecting.

Had Vio been looking, he would have seen a wide grin spring into place on Shadow's face. "It will be. When I get back, everything will be like it was. Better, even." Shadow swore. Vio gave a chuckle punctuated by a yawn.

"That sounds fantastic," He mumbled. "Though the idea of heading to sleep sounds pretty good, too." He glanced back to Shadow, about to say something of his injuries, when he noticed many of them were already healing over. "... You recover unusually quickly."

"Yeah. Only perk of being dead- I always revert back to the state in which I died," Shadow shrugged. "I'm just glad I died in one piece, and don't permanently regenerate a stab wound through my chest or something." He snorted.

Vio rolled his eyes but nodded in agreement. "That would be a little traumatic to deal with, I agree." He regretfully turned away from Shadow, returning to his bed and pulling the covers back. He crawled under the sheets, blowing a puff of air at the candle he'd been using for reading light. He felt a cool sensation near his knees and knew that Shadow had perched on the side of his bed. He was able to see the clear crimson orbs that were his eyes, hovering above him in the gloom. The sight should have been eerie, but knowing that the eyes belonged to Shadow was a comfort to him.

He curled up on his side, shutting his eyes and sighing deeply. "Goodnight, Shadow."

"Night, Vio- dream well." Feeling the same sense of safety from Shadow as he would have from a talisman against bad dreams, Vio found it easy to drift off to sleep.

* * *

><p>Little bit of development for the two of them here eue Anybody missing the other Links yet? Well, don't worry- as soon as I get it written out, the next chapter will be up, and guess who we're gonna be seeing? ;D<p>

Thank you for reading! As always, R&R is so much appreciated!

~Artimus-Maora


	8. Chapter 8- Feeling a little Blue?

AU where Shadow's death is not a final death- He's something between dead and alive, trapped in the darkness. He needs Vio's help to get out, before a fate worse than death catches up to him...

Primarily going to be Vio x Shadow-centric; if you don't like it, don't read it! (Might eventually contain hints of Blue and Red, if you look closely ;D )

Shadow stayed by Vio's side even after the blonde had dropped off to sleep, watching with a sort of morbid curiosity for the potential return of the nightmares. Sure as shadows, not half an hour after Vio had dropped off to sleep, he began to toss and turn. His brow furrowed and he went rigid, gritting his teeth as he fought against something in his mind.

The whispered words began soon after. "Stop... please... s-stay away from me..." Vio gave a wordless cry, hardly louder than a whisper. Shadow leaned over him with concern, abruptly straightening up as he heard a noise from outside Vio's room. Casting a glance at the restless boy before standing, Shadow phased through the door and went to check it out.

He followed the sounds of the disturbance, heading to the living room of the house and staring in shock. A whole group of skeletal beasts (he'd dubbed them Bonedogs, after their canine appearance and their skeletal structure showing clearly through their leathery skin) were in the living room of the house, numbering probably six or seven. Uninhibited by the furniture- passing through it like Shadow could- two of them seemed to be locked in combat while the others watched eagerly to fall upon whichever lost the fight.

Shadow shrank back with a worried frown- a whole group of them, escaped from the Rift? How was that possible? He'd had to struggle for a year to achieve this half-exit- how could these beasts have managed it? On the upside, they looked to be only phantoms to this world, just like he was. They could cause no harm to Vio or any of the other Links. To Shadow, though...

One of the Bonedogs lifted its head, sniffing the air with a curious growl. At that the others turned too, facing Shadow's direction with narrowed eye sockets. (Like the one Vio had observed earlier, they did not have eyes. It was a species anomaly.) Knowing that showing fear or running would only prompt attack, Shadow held his ground and stepped towards the pack of canines. "What're you looking at?" He challenged with as much bravado as he could muster, holding out his arms to extend his silhouette. "Scram, ya mutts!"

They flinched back a little as he approached, but did not flee. The ones nearest him barked loudly, the hollow noise echoing all around the house to those who could hear it. Shadow didn't balk, jumping threateningly towards the group. "I said **scram**! This is my turf, you mangy beasts!" His rapid advance convinced the beasts to leave, and as a pack they turned tail and fled. Where they encountered dark patches of the room they disappeared, all of them fading from view in a matter of seconds.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Shadow glanced back towards the upper floor where all the other Links slept. He was sure Vio was still asleep, and wouldn't have heard the barking or Shadow yelling. Blue, however... The uncertainty surrounding the aggressive Link bothered Shadow. He wasn't sure exactly how much Blue was able to perceive- he could feel when Shadow touched him, but he could not see or hear him. He and Vio would have to figure out a good plan to test things with Blue.

Would they be better off letting him into the loop? If he didn't believe them at first, Shadow was sure they could find a way to convince him. But was Blue value-added? While he wasn't stupid, it wasn't exactly as though he added a wealth of brainpower to the party... He never knew. Blue could be unexpectedly useful, as he'd occasionally seen through the months he'd been shadowing the Four Swords. He figured it would be better to have him on their side than to not have him. If for some reason things came down to a question of strength, Blue was definitely someone he wanted as an ally.

Speaking of Blue... He was curious as to what the other Link was like behind closed doors. He frequently acted so gruff- was he like that privately? Shadow's observations of Blue had been surface at the most; he'd never tailed the Link when he broke off from the group. The same went for Red and Green- he had primarily been concerned with Vio, but he had learned a lot about the other three as well.

For example- he knew Blue was ridiculously precise about folding his clothes. It was damn near obsessive. Green had a bad habit of leaving his boots right in front of the door (causing everyone to trip on them, and more often than not drop a few colorful curses.) Red was good at starting fires even without the aid of the Fire Rod, a fact Shadow was not entirely sure he was comfortable with. Green seemed to have no favorites among the Links, Vio tended to internalize his problems and distance himself from the others, and Red and Blue clearly favored the support of each other above any of the two.

Shadow smirked as his train of thought chose to follow that track. That had given him some amusement, watching those two interact. If he had to put his money on one thing about Blue, it would be that he was endlessly protective of the others, especially Red. There was some sort of soft spot that Blue harbored for Red, a tiny chink in his armor that he would occasionally let the other Link in through. It amused Shadow to watch it play out- Red always following along closest to Blue, talking to Blue, talking _about_ Blue in his absence, defending Blue stubbornly if his counterpart should ever fall under criticism... And then there was Blue. Blue was not as obvious about his favoritism, but it showed from time to time. Going out of his way to make something for dinner that he knew Red would enjoy, listening (with however many gruff comments) to Red when he was upset and comforting him as needed, and once in a rare while, when they were walking side by side Shadow would catch them holding hands.

He was hardly an expert at anything concerning romance, but he would wager that there was a little something extra between these two Links. Smirking to himself, Shadow headed back up to the upper floor just in time to see Red's bedroom door shut. Curious as to why Red would be awake at this hour, Shadow was about to trail after him to check before he caught himself. He'd been extremely careful about respecting the four's privacy, and he figured a shut door was a fair signal to not enter. However, he noticed with interest, Blue's door was open a fraction of an inch. Instantly curious and cackling to himself, Shadow took the chance to slip into the room.

Blue's room was very, very neat; his demeanor would normally suggest that he was careless about order, but it was completely the opposite. There were no clothes on the floor, neatly folded tunics and shirts were visible past the open door of his closet, and his boots were settled next to his closet on a small rug to catch dirt and mud. Blue himself was sitting on his bed, clad in a dark blue pajama shirt and loose gray pants. He was cross-legged, elbows resting on his knees and head in his hands. His expression was mostly obscured from Shadow, but from what Shadow could see, he looked preoccupied and somewhat disturbed.

Connecting the dots, Shadow made the guess that Red had been here just moments ago, and Blue's state now was as a result of something to do with the naive Link. "Aw, that's adorable- are you worried for him? Did he come to you cuz he was afraid of the dark?" Shadow mocked, standing at the foot of Blue's bed. Blue couldn't see him, he wasn't worried.

However, as soon as he finished speaking, Blue lifted his head from his hands and stared intently at the place where Shadow stood. His expression had changed from worried to guarded, a frown creasing his forehead. This perturbed Shadow a little- the ebony Link took a few steps to the side, feeling a strange sense of dread as Blue's head turned to follow him. "... Can you see me?"

No answer followed that. Blue continued to intently gaze at the spot Shadow stood, a scowl firmly in place. He must have been setting off Blue's sixth sense like crazy, but clearly Blue had no idea what it was that was doing it. Shadow dared to take a step closer, waving his hand in front of Blue's face. "Oi- Bluebird. Bluebell. Blueballs." He grinned as Blue scowled, but gave no other sign he noticed Shadow was there. "Bluuuuuuuuueberry fruitcake!" Shadow laughed. Blue had officially risen to the top of his pester-list; unlike the others, he was able to get a glimmer of a reaction from him.

"So, Blue," Shadow grinned, lounging against the footboard of his bed. "What was goin' on here just now? Red was hanging around with you, wasn't he?" Of course no answer came to him, giving him cause to snicker. "Man, I wish I could see how you'd react to me being here." That thought brought with it an unexpected trace of melancholy feelings. It reminded him of the past year, fruitlessly talking to the Links and trying to get their attention.

This was different, though. He was now for certain linked to the realm of Hyrule, and not just as a phantom. Vio could see him, and he knew at least some part of his being had been transformed in such a way that he was a part of this world. It was far from where he wanted to be at, but any progress was good progress.

"Ya seem a little testy, my man," Shadow snorted as Blue glared silently at the empty air. "What's the matter? Don't like having a specter floating around at the end of your bed?"

Unexpectedly, Shadow stopped talking as Blue snapped, "Whatever you are, either show yourself or get out! I know there's something there..." Shadow grinned widely, taking several steps toward the head of Blue's bed.

"Show myself? Man, if only I could." He shook his head, 'patting' Blue good-naturedly on the shoulder. Of course this brought a muted hiss and a look of surprise from the blonde- he'd felt a sharp tingling sensation where Shadow had touched him.

Blue swiped at the empty air where he thought Shadow was. "Get out of here!" He recoiled again as his hand passed through Shadow, cursing under his breath. Shadow laughed and took a few steps away from Blue, watching with interest as the aggressive hero's gaze followed him with surprising accuracy.

"Fine, fine, fine- catch you later, Blue." Shadow rolled his eyes and cackled, slipping out the door. Sleep was unnecessary for him, seeing as his body was in a somewhat suspended nature at the moment, so he simply returned to Vio's room and for the remainder of the night, he occupied himself by watching the boy battle his nightmares.

Wow, I've been gone for a while x.x Sorry! I've still got lots of the story to go, and am picking it back up after a while of not having any work done on it. Can't wait to get to all the parts I wanna write- thank you to all of you who've been following it this long! Love you guys, and as always any R&R is much appreciated!

-Artimus-Maora


	9. Chapter 9- What To Do

((As an apology for not updating in so long HAVE A WHOLE TON OF WRITING AH A))

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

The next day, Vio awoke feeling rather unrested. He had the vague sense that it had something to do with a dream he'd had, but the details were foggy at best, and slipping rapidly away from him. Reaching his arms above his head with a loud sigh, stretching, Vio cast his gaze around the room to locate Shadow.

"Morning, Vio." The greeting came from the corner of his room, the darkest area away from the morning sunlight streaming through the window. "How'd you sleep?"

"Well enough," Vio shrugged, rising to his feet and crossing the room to pull the curtains over the window and shut out what light he could. "Remind me tonight not to leave the drapes open." He thought those had been shut...

"It doesn't matter to me, as long as I don't walk into the light too directly," Shadow shook his head. "Don't fret about that." As Vio stood before the mirror to brush his hair back into a semblance of order, Shadow floated up next to him. "I have a really, really, random question for ya."

"Oh? Go ahead." Vio's eyes flicked to Shadow's in the mirror briefly before he continued on fixing his appearance. Shadow lounged against the frame of the mirror, twirling the wispy end of his hat between his fingers.

"What are your thoughts on Red and Blue?"

Vio gave him a bit of a confused look, but answered, "Nothing in particular. Red has a big heart, although as a result it seems sometimes that he lacks a spine. Deep down he's got strength, though. I enjoy his company. Blue, well... I am thankful to count him as an ally. I would not want to be in a battle against him. His personality is somewhat grating, in my opinion, but there are worse people; especially if he's not in one of his foul moods. A rarity, but it has happened on occasion."

Shadow gave a thoughtful nod. "I see. However, that's not quite what I was asking. I was thinking more in a group sense. Like- what do you think of _them_?"

Vio snorted. "I'm not entirely sure what you mean by that." He left the mirror, heading to his wardrobe to pick out a fresh set of clothes.

"I dunno how to put it." Shadow kept his back to Vio as the purple Link changed. "Like- on how they interact, on their dynamic, that kinda stuff."

"If you're asking if I think there's something going on between them..." Shadow didn't need to see Vio's face to know he was smirking. "I say that I have nothing to say on the matter. Their actions speak for themselves."

"So it's _not_ just me who's noticed it." Shadow grinned triumphantly.

"They strike a good balance." Vio made no comment on Shadow's observation. "Blue can get a little too heavy and intense for his own good, and Red occasionally needs someone to ground him. The temperance bond is a win-win for both of them."

"So basically they dig each other."

"I said no such thing."

"You're hinting at it, though!" Shadow snickered, smug. "I totally knew it."

"You heard nothing of the sort from me." Vio denied airily. "Besides, it's not as though you can confront either of them about it just yet. I say it's best to remain uninvolved and let events unfold by themselves, in this case."

Shadow decided to refrain from mentioning his little foray into Blue's room last night, as well as seeing Red traveling there as well. "Do what 'cha want." He kicked his feet off the ground, floating lazily on his back two or three feet off the floor. "However- I'm just gonna give you a heads up on a completely unrelated matter. Things are starting to break out of the Rift."

"What?" Vio sounded completely shocked, and a little bit worried. "Shadow, what did you see?"

"Well, I'll give you a summary." Shadow glanced over at Vio, seeing him frozen in the act of pulling his lavender undershirt over his head. "I went downstairs cuz I heard something out of the ordinary, and there was a pack of about six or seven of these creatures I call Bonedogs duking it out in the sitting room. Of course, they weren't able to damage anything, being stuck half and half like I am, but they were making a racket. I scared 'em off, no sweat, but they were here."

"Bonedogs- what did they look like?" Vio listened intently as Shadow described what they looked like, frowning heavily as he pulled on his shirt and his tunic. "I see... I've seen one of those before. Immediately after you disappeared that one night. I looked up and thought it was going to attack me, but it ran right past me and out the door. I lost track of it when it disappeared."

"Oh. Well, this is... interesting news, then." Shadow frowned as well. The fact that things were escaping the Rift with him... Had he opened some sort of portal, inadvertently, and left it wide open for the use of those who could find it? "This raises questions." His mind raced ahead- would it be wise then to even try to bring himself back to a corporeal form? Would that somehow trigger all the other monsters into a physical form as well? He wanted more than anything to become 'real' again, but if it was gonna unleash all of these creatures on the rest of the world, he knew he'd have to give that up for the greater good. Once upon a time he knew he wouldn't have given a damn if others suffered for his actions, as long as he got what he wanted. He knew better now, though.

"This raises many questions, yes," Vio nodded with a sigh. "Luckily, though, we've got a little time to figure this out. We... don't have any sort of time constraint, do we?" Shadow wouldn't be pulled back to the Rift or anything if they took too long, right?

"Not to my knowledge, no," Shadow shook his head. "I don't think there's any risk other than me getting ornery, really." He snorted.

"And that is something to be avoided at all costs. Goddess knows you're unbearable when you're in a bad mood." Vio commented dryly.

"When did you last see me when I was crabby?"

"Do I really need to remind you about the time you put me over a pit of lava?"

"... that wasn't crabby. That was enraged." Shadow pointed out with a sheepish grin. "Still bitter over that one?"

"No, not really- I can understand why you were angered." Vio snorted. Attempts on one's life by one's 'trusted' ally would naturally result in some fury. "It's in the past- I've gotten over it."

"Well good- I have too." Shadow snorted and stood upright again. "Now, though, the game becomes a little dicier. if you bring me to life fully again, we gotta be sure the effect won't spread to the other creatures from the Rift. And.. Do you even have any kind of magical abilities? I never really saw you use 'em during the adventure." Shadow tilted his head.

Vio gave a small shrug. "I've been doing my best to hone what abilities I have," He sighed. "Though as you said, it isn't much. I didn't have any way to utilize magic for the longest time- only in the past couple months have I ever attempted to use magic, and it's been a hit and miss process."

"Hit and miss is better than nothing," Shadow shrugged. "I know a little something about magic- I can teach you what I know if you've got questions." He grinned. "I'll be your magic coach."

"I don't believe you're a qualified teacher," Vio kidded, but gave a small smile in response. "I'll take any help I can get- any magical practitioners I've encountered weren't exactly the best. The most the majority of them were able to do was concoct potions and perform the most basic of spells. Granted, that's useful in its own right, but not what I'm looking to do."

"No joke! Anyone can make a potion if they've got the recipe!" Shadow made a face and wandered aimlessly toward Vio's chest at the foot of his bed, peering in and gazing at his bow. "Well, the basic ones anyway- some of the more powerful stuff _does_ require a little magic here and there in the brewing process."

"Oh indeed?" Vio leaned against the bedpost, raising an eyebrow. "What would an example of those potions be?"

"Oh, ya know..." Shadow turned back, waving his hand dismissively. "Really strong ones and stuff. Super powerful sleeping potions, some of the more complex poisons," he leaned toward Vio with a cheeky grin, "looooove potions, that kind of thing."

Vio grinned and made as though he was yanking Shadow's hat over his eyes. "I get it. Sounds complex."

Shadow stuck his tongue out at Vio and withdrew again, nodding. "It is. That's the kind of stuff you build up to; you gotta have experience before tackling some of those trickier brews."

"You ever make any?"

"Hell no!" Shadow laughed and shook his head. "You think Mast- Vaati would ever let me near anything important like that? The man was paranoid and suspicious, he wouldn't let anyone in there!"

This was the first Vio had heard Shadow talk of Vaati since his return. "I suppose that makes sense; I didn't know much about Vaati," He admitted. "Sometime you'll have to tell me about him."

Shadow frowned at that, glancing away. "Ah... We'll see." He grunted. "I don't like talking about him much."

"Oh... well, whenever you feel up to it, I'd like to learn more about him. Evil though he was, he was a talented sorcerer and I imagine he had quite the history behind him." Vio rationalized. "I don't condone a single evil deed he's done, but learning more about his skills to put the mechanics behind them to good use would be helpful."

"I know, I know," Shadow grumbled, waving his hand. "You don't have to justify yourself to me."

"Ah. Well, I'm sorry." Vio frowned a little. "Forgive me for that."

"Aw, forget it." Shadow sighed and turned away, wandering toward the mirror near Vio's dresser. "Y'know, I really hate mirrors." He switched the subject abruptly.

Vio noticed the rapid subject change, but didn't say anything about it. "I would imagine so; you've got quite the history with them."

Shadow snorted, placing a hand on the mirror's surface. "I've had my fair share of issues with them in the past," He grunted. "It's not something I really like to dwell on."

"Was the mirror an.. actual mirror?" Vio tilted his head a little. "Or was it more of like... solidified darkness or something along those lines?"

"More the latter than the former," Shadow shrugged, gazing at his lack of a reflection. "But, as you saw, you could see yourself pretty well in it." He turned to give Vio a dry smirk. "Why, this mirror ain't good enough for ya?"

"Oh, hush, Shadow," Vio snickered, perching on the side of the bed. "I'm not nearly so vain as to require such a mirror for my personal use. Besides, if my memory serves me correctly then I believe the mirror is broken and destroyed."

"You're right." Shadow admitted. "It's gone for good; with any luck."

"Oh, I don't like the way you said that." Vio frowned at the slightly ominous tone to Shadow's last statement. "Is there a chance the mirror could be reformed?"

"Well, yeah- but only if someone like Ganondorf made a new one." Shadow held up a finger. "Which, y'know, ain't that likely. But if someone with that kind of power and the know-how to accomplish it came along, then yeah, it's entirely possible that a new one could be made."

"What kind of level of power are we talking here?" Vio asked, thoughtful.

"Ganondorf-powerful." Shadow stated flatly. "I know what you're thinking- is Zelda strong enough to do it? Maybe, but she's not experienced enough. Ganondorf was a sorcerer sealed away for who knows how long, and on top of that he was a full-grown man with a whole lifetime of accumulated knowledge and magical experience. Zelda, while she's got a ton of potential, is still pretty young; not to even mention the differing light and shadow magic deal."

"So it's impossible that Zelda could recreate it somehow." Vio summed up.

"More or less, yeah," Shadow confirmed. "Why, you wanted a new one?"

"Mmn... I was more hoping that if one was present, you could have an easier shot at being reborn."

"Well, you're still outta luck." Shadow blew out a loud puff of air. "That worked when I was just sent back to the Dark World after being destroyed or 'dying.' I wasn't sent back there when I died for good, so all that would get you would be a kind of useless portal to a world we don't need to access." The dark-haired boy clarified.

"Oh... I suppose that makes sense" Vio admitted. It was strange being the student for once, not the teacher. He liked learning, however, and so found no fault with it. "It would have been nice if the solution was something we were familiar with already."

Shadow gave an unamused snort at this, shaking his head. "Vi, if the solution were anything _close_ to familiar, we would've had it figured out by now." He scoffed.

"Mm, you have a point."

"More like I had nothing but time to mull it over," Shadow sighed, beginning to wander aimlessly around the room. "This is really off-topic, but you think when I get my body back, you could teach me to use a bow? I really only fought with magic most of the time, and I'm not sure I'll have that when I get back to the physical world; not to mention my skills with a sword are nothing to brag about, either," He admitted sheepishly, playing with the hem of his tunic.

"Well, you'd be better served asking Blue or Green about the blade, but I can certainly offer assistance if you wanna learn the bow and arrow," Vio agreed. "It's not so much learning to use the weapon itself as it is honing your aim with it, the strength of your grip, and the way you manage your ammunition."

"You've clearly had time to mull _that_ over," Shadow commented with a smirk.

Vio laughed at this, shaking his head. "I've clearly had experience on the battlefield, is what. You learn fast how to manage your ammo when you find yourself running out all the time; Blue, having no ammunition but the strength of his limbs that his hammer requires, can use his weapon all he wants. I need to be a little more judicious about how I put my bow to use, and when it would be a better idea to just go with my blade."

"And this is why you're the tactician and he's the brute swinging the hammer around." Shadow snickered, shaking his head in amusement.

"It can certainly be said that there's some symmetry to it," Vio chuckled. "It would definitely account for our differing fighting styles."

"No shit." Shadow smirked. "Y'all are pretty well suited to your own weapons; you and your bow, Blue and his hammer, Red and his magic rod, and Green and his boomerang. I always found it weird that that thing actually worked." Shadow grinned.

"What, that the boomerang actually returned after being thrown?" Vio smiled. "Physics says it should work, but I admit that I'm always surprised it does, too."

"It's a weird piece o'weaponry." Shadow stretched his arms over his head with a loud yawn. "Man, I'm tired. I wish I could sleep."

"Still unable to?" Vio raised an eyebrow.

"Clearly." Shadow snorted, muffling another yawn. "All that happens is I just kinda lie there with my eyes shut. It's torturous." At another confused look from Vio, Shadow went on. "Can you imagine being conscious 24/7? Your mind always going, never being able to get out of your own head.. Always thinking, always worrying."

"Oh." Vio drew up short. "That's... that's somewhat horrifying."

"You're telling me. I haven't been able to shut my mind off for almost a year now. Well.. Sometimes I've passed out, but that wasn't sleep by any means. And it was only five or ten minutes at a time anyway." Shadow shrugged nonchalantly. "It's a nightmare."

"I don't doubt it." Being neverendingly awake to brood on your own half-existence and the possibility of it extending forever was... a frightening concept. "I don't envy you, Shadow."

"Nor should ya." He grimaced. "There are drawbacks to being dead, as ya might imagine."

"I think simply being dead implies a whole slew of other drawbacks in addition to not being able to sleep." Vio snorted. "Namely, being dead."

"Well, ya ain't wrong," Shadow snickered, going to Vio's dresser and perching atop it. "Hope you don't mind me sitting all over your stuff; ain't as though I have any real weight to me."

"Do I look as though I mind?" Vio gave a small smirk. "Go right ahead, you aren't harming anything."

"Couldn't if I tried." Shadow sighed, kicking his feet aimlessly. "So- you're thinking of making the trip to Zelda's on your own, yeah? Think she's back yet?"

"It's been a couple days since we last tried to check," Vio considered. "Perhaps tomorrow I could set out and have a word with her, yes. You're sure you'll be fine here?"

"For the last time, Vio," Shadow rolled his eyes. "I'll be perfectly fine. I got a question, though."

"And that question is...?"

"Think we oughta try to bring Blue on board?" Shadow proposed. "I mean... realistically, I'd rather have him on our side than not. And he could only be a help." Not to mention he sort of already might know.

This caused Vio to frown slightly, crossing his arms. To his knowledge, Blue would be more of a hindrance than a help. "I don't know... Where we are right now, our main struggle is going to be getting to Zelda and figuring out how to decode that spell; neither of which Blue will be of much use for."

"Yeah, but three heads are better than two," Shadow wheedled, trying to change Vio's mind.

"Not when that head is Blue's." Vio remained stubborn. "Until we have a better idea of the nature of your issue, I would rather not bring anybody else on board." He frowned.

Shadow looked somewhat dejected, but reluctantly accepted. "Whatever; you're usually right, anyway," He sighed loudly, taking his cap off to run a hand through his hair. "What do I know?"

"Don't think like that, Shadow, I'm just saying Blue might not be as value-added as some." Vio argued, looking slightly miffed.

"Sure he'd love to hear you say that," Shadow snorted, replacing his hat on his head. "No need to justify yourself to me, s'not like I have any great love for Blue or anything."

"I suppose not, no," Vio conceded. "Well, all the same, forget I said anything." He heaved a sigh, glancing to the window. "So long story short, I ought to venture to see Zelda today?"

"Tomorrow you might stand a better chance." Shadow disagreed. "Gives her more time to get home and get settled and stuff, if she isn't already. Plus you can set out early then."

"You're right." Vio nodded. "Tomorrow it is."


End file.
